I am trying to write on Mondays.  This week proved that if I don’t make time on Monday, I will not get to it.  I spent a lot of this week daydreaming as I tried to choose what this week’s focus was going to be.  Some of those thoughts may come out later and some have left my consciousness.  What I can take away from last week is that I did not have a focus and it turned out ok.  In fact, my classes went really well.  Three experiences that stick out are a guided meditation session at the hospital, the tai chi class at the VA and the yoga class at the hospital.  Each class had a depth that felt so satisfying to me and I hope to the students.  On Tuesday I started giving a monthly 30 minute guided imagery session to the PT department.  I did my “go to” body scan of starting with the toes and working up to relaxing the head but added in some chakra work from my yoga training.  I didn’t use the word “chakra” but I marked each of the seven points with a question and invited them to meditate on the question.  They were welcome to participate in any way that felt comfortable to them … just listening to the music, tuning in and out of my voice, meditating on the question, using this time for rest… whatever they needed.

This practice comes from a class I took at a yogafit training with Katie Schuver:
I am here because…
I am creative because…
I am strong because…
I love and am loved because…
I am true to myself because…
I am wise because…
I am bliss because…

Then, on Wednesday I taught at the VA, following a delicious master class with BodyCartography Project.  I felt so fed and so open to give to others after dancing that morning.  There were ideas from the morning class that I wanted to explore further and thought my students would enjoy, so we did just that.  We spend some time sensing where the bones in our fingers connected in our shoulders and backs.  We physically traced or mapped the shape of our head down to our arms.  I watched discovery as they investigated the shapes of their skull and moved their arms leading with pinkies or thumbs.  The class flowed so well from there.

The week finished off with our yoga class which has grown to a size of 8-12 people – so energizing!  We have class in a hallway at the hospital – not ideal, but we make it work!  In the summer, this hallway gets very hot and we have not found a suitable alternative.  So, I designed the class to be cooling – we let out heat by exhaling with an open mouth, we flowed through a lot of heart openers, and didn’t get up off of the mat very much.  During savasana (final rest), I cued everyone to acknowledge their accomplishments from the week.  I think we need more of this!  Feeling good about what we did do and not dwelling on the to do list.  Not getting to my weekly writing was a bummer but it meant that I did accomplish other things!  I am so grateful.